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Royal Ballet and Opera

Set designer

Set designer (+3)

Michael Levine

Costume designer

Costume designer (+2)

Gesine Völlm

Lighting designer

Lighting designer (+2)

James Farncombe

Choreographer

Choreographer (+2)

Teresa Rotemberg

Stage director

Stage director (+4)

Claus Guth

Video

Video (+1)

Rocafilm

Dramaturge

Dramaturge (+3)

Yvonne Gebauer

Conductor

Conductor (+2)

Jakub Hrůša

Soprano

Corinne Winters

Jenufa

Soprano (+4)

Karita Mattila

Sacristan Buryja

Tenor (+1)

Thomas Atkins

Steva Buryja

Tenor (+5)

Nicky Spence

Laca Klemen

Mezzo-soprano (+4)

Hanna Schwarz

Old Buryjovka

Baritone (+3)

James Cleverton

Starek

Baritone (+4)

Jonathan Lemalu

Mayor

Soprano (+2)

Marie McLaughlin

Mayor's wife

Mezzo-soprano (+2)

Veena Akama-Makia

Pastuchnyňa

Mezzo-soprano (+1)

Cai Jingwen

Barena

Orchestra

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

Chorus

Royal Opera Chorus

Mezzo-soprano

Renata Skarelytë

Tetka

Bass (+1)

Nigel Cliffe

Baritone

Concertino invitado

Vasko Vassilev

Marianne Cotterill

Soprano Voice

Assistant Conductor

Conductor (+4)

Lada Valesova

Valentina Puskás

Karolka

Chorusmaster

Chorusmaster (+2)

William Spaulding

Alison Kettlewell

Isabela Díaz

Jana

Kirsty Mclean

Corinne Winters (Jenůfa) and Karita Mattila (the Kostelnička) lead in Janáček’s evocative opera with a score that is infused with traditional folk melodies of the composer’s native Moravia. Music Director Designate Jakub Hruša conducts Claus Guth’s staging which is an ‘edgy, evocative’ (Telegraph) take on this poignant domestic drama.

THE MUSIC OF JENŮFA 
Janáček’s folk-inspired music movingly captures Jenůfa’s progression from hope to despair to eventual radiant happiness, while her stepmother, the Kostelnička, is one of opera’s most complex maternal figures. Writer Nigel Simeone describes the unique structure of Janáček's stirring music as such: ‘Every character has his or her own musical language, and Janáček sets down a pattern that will serve him for all of his mature operas. A theme, often as short as four notes, dominates each scene [of the opera] but then gives way to another, equally memorable'.  

WHAT IS A KOSTELNIČKA?  
Jenůfa's stepmother is referred throughout Janáček’s opera as ‘the Kostelnička’, a title given to a village church-warden or elder. Initially presenting as a strong matriarch who is fiercely protective of Jenůfa, the Kostelnička has one of the more dramatic – and dark – character transformations across opera. As Jenůfa's future is turned increasingly precarious by her illegitimate child, the Kostelnička’s maternal instinct morphs into obsessive determination... In a small, stifling community, how far must a mother go to protect her child?

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